On Friday, August 11, 2017, at 2:40 p.m., Maui fire crews responded to reports of smoke coming from a green waste pile at the Maui EKO Systems composting facility being operated on a leased portion of the Central Maui Landfill site.

Firefighters arrived at 2:53 p.m. and found Maui EKO personnel already working to control the fire with heavy equipment. Fire engines from Wailuku, Paia and water tankers from Kahului and Wailea arrived to help extinguish the fire. Two water tankers from the County’s Public Works, Highways Division were also brought in to help with the fire.

It’s unknown what may have started the fire. A section of a green waste pile about 300 feet wide by 300 feet long and standing around 15 feet tall, was on fire. Firefighters also were trying to extinguish tires that had caught on fire near the green waste pile.

Maui EKO employees took over the firefighting operations in their facility at around 5 p.m. Friday because fire crews were needed at a brush fire starting up about 2 miles mauka of the Central Maui Landfill, on Pulehu Road.

A water tanker from the Kahului fire station was called back to the Maui EKO Systems facility at 8 p.m. Friday night and again at 4 a.m. Saturday morning.

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, the fire at the Maui EKO Systems facility was still actively burning and producing smoky conditions that is posing a safety concern for the employees as well as the users of the County’s Central Maui Landfill, Refuse and Recycling Center. Because of the hazard, the landfill facility will be closed today for drop-off of all trash, recyclables, and green waste materials until resuming normal operating hours on Monday, August 14. The Central Maui Landfill is normally closed on Sundays.